Friday, December 10, 2010

Oracle vs. Apache Software Foundation: Absence of Malice (Take 2)

The resignation of the Apache Software Foundation (ASF) from the Executive Committee of the Java Community Process (JCP) is giving me a strong feeling of Déjà vu. Oh wait, I know why that is. It is bringing up the same feelings I had when I wrote this earlier blog post about the Oracle lawsuit against Google.

"Everyone in the room is smart, everybody is just doing their job, and Oracle's reputation as the steward of Java is dead. Who do I see about that?"

The response in the movie pretty much sums up where we are now:

"Ain't nobody to see. I wish there was. You're excused now sir."

My problem is that I don't want to be excused. As one of a select group of Java Champions, I want to stick around. However, I am finding it increasingly difficult to support Oracle as the new steward of Java. In fact, I can state without reservations that I do *NOT* support Oracle's recent actions that led to the ASF's complete withdrawal from the JCP.

My quandary now is what to do about that. Is it better to continue on as a Java Champion and be engaged with Oracle about my concerns with their stewardship of Java? Or is it time to submit my own resignation from the Java Champions community? I can say one thing publicly. The private discussions amongst my fellow Java Champions and our Oracle liaisons brings another movie to mind, Twelve Angry Men. Just like the scenes in that jury deliberation room, there has been a lot of unpleasant discourse about what is happening amongst us in private. I'm at the point that I feel like this one juror does at the 1 minute mark in the movie trailer for Twelve Angry Men.

I doubt that anything can be done to persuade Oracle to change course at this point. I only know that doing nothing about it is not an option for me personally. I am going to ask my fellow Java Champions to join me in endorsing a public statement in support of the ASF's recent decision to withdraw from the JCP (and denouncing the JCP decision not to honor the licensing commitments made to the ASF). If I am unable to get a critical mass of my fellow Java Champions to do so, then it may well be time for me to excuse myself. I hope it doesn't come to that though.

About Me

Van Riper has a Bachelors in Computer Science from MIT. Van has more than 20 years of experience as a software engineer in Silicon Valley. He was a core member of the engineering team at Adobe that built the award winning Adobe PageMill web authoring program. Since 1999, he has focused on developing web applications in Java.

In December of 2010, Van joined Google Developer Relations as a Developer Community Advocate. His official title was Global Program Manager for Google Developer Groups (GDG). There are 550+ active GDGs in 100+ countries to date. These groups are holding local developer meetups at a rate that is averaging upwards of 15 meetups on a daily basis. You can find your nearest local GDG chapter in the GDG Directory.

In January of 2015, Van moved into People Development at Google. He now leads the effort to build communities of mindfulness practices for well-being change at all Google offices in the world.

From 2007 onward, Van has also been a member of the core organizing team for Silicon Valley Code Camp. This is the largest free community organized Code Camp in the US and possibly in the world. We had almost 3000 attendees in 2014.